The Healthcare Technology Report is pleased to announce The Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare Software of 2020. These women exemplify achievement in a hyper competitive industry that seeks to have profound impact across national and global communities. The importance of their leadership roles is paramount particularly as healthcare providers increasingly rely on data and technology to improve the way care is delivered. By dedicating themselves to their chosen field, through decades of expanding expertise and capabilities, these are the women leaders most respected and admired in healthcare software. They were selected based on nominations from peers and colleagues as well as a detailed review of the leadership roles they have held, longevity in the field, technical expertise, and business acumen among other factors.
Please join us in congratulating this year's awardees.
1. Denise Basow, Wolters Kluwer, Health
Denise Basow is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Clinical Effectiveness at Wolters Kluwer, Health a provider of trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions. A board-certified physician in Internal Medicine, Dr. Basow has over 30 years of clinical and business experience leading high-performing teams and driving growth. She was appointed as CEO in 2015, after an almost 20-year tenure at UpToDate, which Wolters Kluwer acquired in 2008. In her current role, she oversees the company's Clinical Effectiveness segment which includes UpToDate, its clinical drug information solutions Lexicomp, Medi-Span, Facts & Comparisons, and Emmi. She is currently focused on reducing unwanted variability in care and improving clinical effectiveness with industry-leading solutions. Previously, at UpToDate, she held several roles, including General Manager and Editor-in-Chief. Before this, she was the Primary Care Internist at Mount Auburn Hospital, Primary Care Internist at MetroWest Medical Group, and Primary Care Internist at Chesapeake Physicians.
2. Kumsal Bayazit, Elsevier
Kumsal Bayazit became the Chief Executive Officer of Elsevier in February 2019. Elsevier is a global information analytics business focused on the healthcare sector. Previously, Kumsal held multiple positions with RELX Group since 2004, most recently as Regional President Europe, Middle East and Africa at Reed Exhibitions. Before joining Reed Exhibitions, she was RELX Group’s Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for driving strategic initiatives, technology strategy and portfolio management. Prior to that she served in several operational and strategic roles with LexisNexis. Kumsal chairs the Technology Forum at RELX Group and is a non-executive director at LSL Property Services plc. Prior to RELX Group, Kumsal spent several years at Bain & Company in their New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Sydney offices. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
3. Laura Mensch, TELUS Health
Laura Mensch is the Vice President of TELUS Health and Payment Solutions, the Health Benefits Management segment of the Canadian e-commerce giant. She joined TELUS in 2018, bringing over 20 years of health industry expertise as well as 15 years of insurance and benefits consulting experience. In her current role, Mensch leads the Health Benefits Management team to create broad and integrated solutions that promote the sharing of information between healthcare professionals, insurers, plan sponsors, and plan members. She hopes to eventually help companies better handle escalating healthcare costs. Committed to making a positive change in her community, Mensch is also involved in several charities, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Toronto Food Bank. Before joining TELUS, she was the Director, Business Development Lead of Shopper's Drug Mart's Employer Health Solutions segment. Before this, she was the Chief Operating Officer of Maximum Rose Living Benefits, spent eleven years at ADP Canada as the Vice President of Insurance Solutions, and had an eight-year tenure at Aon Consulting as Senior Vice President. Mensch began her career as a Principal at KPMG.
4. Andrea Kowalski, Kareo
Andrea Kowalski is the Vice President of Product at Kareo, the Irvine, California-based provider of cloud software, helping independent practices succeed in an ever-changing healthcare market by allowing them to run more efficiently while providing outstanding patient care. In this role, Andrea is responsible for leading the product and integrated platform strategy, overseeing the entire product lifecycle and driving forward with delivering customer-focused solutions. With experience in developing and leading product management teams, defining strategic product vision and roadmap, achieving business objectives through product execution, and developing a customer-focused culture, Andrea brings a passionate problem-solving mindset to Kareo. Driven by improving healthcare through disruptive innovation, she believes in delivering cutting-edge solutions while driving business results. Andrea joined the company in 2018 from athenahealth, where she developed over eight years of experience advancing their clinical product for the ambulatory and hospital market. Prior to her tenure at athenahealth, Andrea was at Citigroup developing innovative electronic trading solutions.
5. Trisha Coady, HealthStream
Trisha Coady is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Clinical Solutions at HealthStream. She joined the Nashville Tennessee-based company in 2013 as Director of CE Center and then Vice President of Clinical Development, Vice President, and General Manager before being appointed Senior Vice President of Clinical Solutions in 2018. Under her leadership, HealthStream's innovative clinical development solutions for the healthcare workforce have grown both in the number of offerings and market share among hospitals and health systems across the US. As a nurse, healthcare entrepreneur, and nationally recognized thought leader on professional development for clinicians, Coady's expertise helps guide the company's strategy and growth. The Nurse Residency Pathway program, CE Center, Checklist Management, and several nursing skills content libraries have all been successful under Coady's leadership. Previously, she was the healthcare Practice Manager at Bluedrop Performance Learning, the founder and President of Medsenses and the Nurses Network, and a registered nurse at several healthcare organizations.
6. Dana Jones, Sparta Systems
Dana Jones is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors for Sparta Systems, a leading provider of quality management software primarily for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical devices industries. Prior to Sparta in April 2018, Dana served as CEO of Active Network, the leader in activity and event management software. Under her leadership, the company grew rapidly, leading to the sale of the Sports and Communities divisions to Global Payments Inc. for $1.2 Billion. Prior to Active Network, Dana was Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Solutions Management for Sabre Airline Solutions, a global provider of software to the airline industry. She started her career as a management consultant with A.T. Kearney focusing on strategy and supply chain optimization initiatives for Fortune 500 companies. Dana graduated Summa Cum Laude and holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.
7. Brandi Davis-Dusenbery, Seven Bridges Genomics
Brandi Davis-Dusenbery is the Chief Scientific Officer at Seven Bridges, the Boston-based industry-leading biomedical data science company accelerating precision medicine. Brandi joined the company in 2014 as Senior Scientist. Later she was appointed Scientific Program Manager, then Senior Vice President of Product and Science, and finally Chief Executive Officer before stepping into her current role in 2019. As Chief Scientific Officer, she commands all aspects of scientific discovery at Seven Bridges with a focus on building solutions that stimulate biomedical innovation. Most notably, she played a pivotal role in creating the first National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Genomics Cloud pilot, which now underpins the analytic needs of about 1,500 researchers investigating petabytes of genomic data collected in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Over the last decade, the growth-oriented leader has been inspired by the potential for ultra large scale molecular and clinical data to render insights into the basis of health and disease. Ultimately, she is driven by her goal to reduce technological and political barriers that prevent new developments. Before joining Seven Bridges, Brandi was a Postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University.
8. April Anthony, Homecare Homebase
April Anthony is the CEO of Homecare Homebase, a software solution catering to the home care and hospice industry. April began her career as an auditor and CPA for Price Waterhouse. For over 20 years, she has been a leader and entrepreneur in home health care as founder and developer of three successful ventures. She now plays a key role in strategic product development of Homecare Homebase and serves on the board of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. April has led two transformational transactions: Homecare Homebase with the sale of 85% of the HCHB equity to the Hearst Corporation; and the sale of 84% of Encompass to HealthSouth.
9. Dr. Betty Rabinowitz, NextGen Healthcare
Dr. Betty Rabinowitz is the Chief Medical Officer of NextGen Healthcare. In her role, Betty is focused on promoting and improving the Company’s clients’ provider performance, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and financial efficiency. She joined NextGen Healthcare in 2017 as one of the founders and the former chief executive officer of EagleDream Health, the cloud-based analytics and population health management solutions now known as NextGen® Population Health. The software solution drives meaningful insights across clinical, financial, and administrative data to optimize ambulatory practice performance. Betty graduated from Ben-Gurion University Medical School in Israel, where she also completed a residency in Internal Medicine. She came to the United States in 1990 for a fellowship in Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, where she became a professor of clinical medicine. Betty served as a medical director at the University of Rochester Center for Primary Care, overseeing clinical operations and population health management for a network of 28 practices and 130 primary care physicians.
10. Anita Dressel, Teletracking
Anita Dressel is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Teletracking Technologies, the Pittsburgh-based provider of patient flow automation solutions to the healthcare industry. Since joining the company in 2018 as CFO, Dressel has continued to excel, appointed as the company's new COO in 2019. In this role, she utilizes her strong international financial background and experience in commercial management and business operations, to drive transformation while leading the diverse and cross-cultural team at Teletracking. Before joining the Pittsburgh company, Dressel spent almost 17 years at Ericsson most recently as the company's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in their Digital Services business segment. She held several other positions at the company including Chief Financial Officer of the Digital Services Business Unit, Head of Global Business Finance, and Head of Price Management and Commercial Director. The Pittsburgh native began her career working locally at FORE Systems as a Technical Proposal Engineer and an Engineer at Duquesne Light Company.
11. Rhonda Collins, Vocera Communications
Rhonda Collins is the Chief Nursing Officer at Vocera, the San Jose-based provider of mobile communication solutions for hospital staff and mobile workers across enterprise organizations. Collins has been with the company since 2014, where she oversees a global team of nurse executives working with more than 1,500 hospitals, helping to simplify clinical workflows through technology. Under her leadership, Vocera developed a software suite that reduced the doctor-nurse voice and text communication process from 30 minutes to mere seconds. Notably, Collins has served on the front lines as a registered nurse for almost 30 years, spanning management roles in major hospitals before becoming the Vice President at Baylor University Medical Center. Since shifting to healthcare IT, Collins has been on a mission to make technology work for doctors and nurses, by putting healthcare providers at the center of these conversations. Prior to joining Vocera, Collins was the Vice president and Business Manager for Fresenius Kabi, where she was pivotal in the launch of the company's Intravenous Infusion Pump in the US and led the American Nurse Project, promoting nurses across the country.
12. Heather George, Patientco
Heather George is the Chief Revenue Officer of Patientco, the Atlanta-based next-generation patient payment technology company. She joined the company in 2019 armed with a proven track record of executing operational goals for leading healthcare companies and the expertise to identify and approach the healthcare industry's needs skillfully. Under her leadership, Patientco has empowered more healthcare organizations and helped improve their financial performance while offering patients new billing and payment experiences. As patients are faced with rising costs, George hopes to be part of the solution that meets basic consumer expectations and improve the financial experience in healthcare. An experienced leader, group facilitator, speaker, and trainer, the executive has knowledge of HITECH, PPACA, and government initiatives driving healthcare reform. Previously, George served as Vice President of Healthcare Industry Sales at Kaufman Hall, where she developed and oversaw sales strategies to meet the company's business objectives while ensuring customer needs were met. Prior to Kaufman Hall, she managed sales efforts for McKesson and GE Healthcare.
13. Dr. Gilan El Saadawi, M*Modal
Dr. Gilan El Saadawi is Chief Medical Informatics Officer of M*Modal, a leading provider of cloud-based clinical documentation solutions. Gilan is responsible for the Company’s clinical informatics strategy, including the development and subsequent integration of clinical information models and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) into M*Modal’s clinical documentation platform. Under her guidance, M*Modal has transformed traditional NLP, which is typically used for retrospective analysis of data for research and reporting, into a technology that scales broadly across a number of applications. Gilan has deep experience as a practicing pathologist combined with a comprehensive background in research and academia. She earned an MD and PhD in Pathology from Ain Shams University in Egypt and a master’s degree in Medical Informatics from the University of Pittsburgh.
14. Nani Hunjan McDonnell, PointClickCare
Nani Hunjan McDonnell is the Senior Vice President, Customer Success and Customer Support at PointClickCare, an enterprise-level cloud software and managed services provider to the healthcare industry. Nani initially joined the Company in 2013 as a Vice President of Corporate Accounts and since then has risen to Vice President of Account Management to Vice President, Customer Success and to her current leadership role. Previously, she was a Vice President, Client Services at PointRight and before that was with United Healthcare and Tufts Health Plan. Nani began her career with PacifiCare Health Systems. She earned degrees from the University of Southern California and the University of Los Angeles.
15. Irene Froehlich, DrFirst
Irene Froehlich has been a pioneer in healthcare technology since 2000. She has helped shape the national reputation of DrFirst and been a significant part of developing the company’s strategy and brand since its inception. Irene has worn many hats at DrFirst over the years, spanning marketing, PR, sales, account management, corporate culture, and talent acquisition. She has a proven track record of creating, implementing, executing, and managing a diverse variety of initiatives supporting both B2B and B2C markets. As the Chief Communications Officer, Irene is responsible for ensuring that the leadership team upholds the vision, mission, values, purpose, culture, and beliefs of DrFirst both internally and externally. Irene is also responsible for creating and maintaining the quality of the DrFirst brand and voice through successful public relations and marketing efforts across the various stakeholders.
16. Lisa Khorey, Allscripts
Lisa Khorey is the Executive Vice President, Chief Client Delivery Officer for Allscripts Healthcare Solutions. The Company provides electronic health record technology and other health information technology to over 180,000 physicians, 2,700 hospitals and 13,000 extended care organizations. Lisa leads all aspects of delivering Allscripts solutions to its clients, including professional services, managed services, support and hosting. Previously, she was an Executive Director in Ernst & Young’s Healthcare Advisory Services Practice, specializing in analytics. She served the firm’s largest clients across the US and Australia. Lisa spent 20 years in a variety of technology leadership roles at UPMC, one of the largest integrated delivery and financing organizations in the US. She spearheaded and led UPMC’s Enterprise Analytics Program and was responsible for oversight of enterprise systems. She also spent several years as a UPMC hospital chief information officer. Lisa has an MBA from Duquesne University and a bachelor’s degree in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
17. Bela Labovitch, athenahealth
Bela is the Vice President, Engineering at athenahealth, a leading provider of integrated, network-enabled services for healthcare and point-of-care mobile apps. Bela has a long track record of over thirty years as a technology executive and software engineer. Throughout her tenure at athenahealth she has risen through three positions rising in seniority. Most recently prior to athenahealth, Bela was the Senior Director of Technology for inVentive Health and prior to that was the Director of Software Engineering at LogixHealth and VP, Engineering at MedMinder Systems. She spent the early part of the 2000s with IBM as a Senior Software Architect. Bela began her career as a software engineer for the Cortex Corporation. Over her career she has worked across a number of verticals including healthcare, pharma, financial institutions, publishing and eCommerce. Bela earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in Computer Science from Northeastern University.
18. Marjon Harvey, DrChrono
Marjon Harvey is the Vice President of Sales at DrChrono, the Sunnyvale California-based telehealth platform that implements medical billing, open healthcare API, and the first iOS EHR system. She joined the company in 2012 as a Sales Team Leader and has since held a number of roles, most notably as Director of Sales and Vice President of Enterprise Sales. In her current role, she oversees DrChrono's upmarket strategy to assist larger practices in optimizing both the patient experience and their revenue growth. Currently, she is building her team of dedicated enterprise representatives set to facilitate the company's continued growth and domination of the EHR space. Harvey is motivated by a strong belief that innovative technology can resolve the healthcare industry's biggest challenges and subsequently enrich physicians' and patients' lives. Previously, Harvey was at Stanford University for almost three years first as a Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and then the Head Teaching Assistant. Before this, she was a Research Assistant at the Joint Science Department of the Claremont Colleges. Harvey earned a master's degree in Organic Chemistry from Stanford University.
19. Amy Shellhart, WellSky
Amy Shellhart is the Senior Vice President of Operations at WellSky (formerly Mediware Information Systems). She has over 25 years of healthcare industry experience in leadership positions. Prior to WellSky, Amy served as Vice President of Product Management at Change Healthcare as well as at McKesson. Amy’s experience also includes leading the charge in establishing the MassineBoecker, Inc. population health management footprint in the U.S. She spent the large majority of her healthcare career at Healthways, where for over 15 years she led product management solutions serving the health systems and physicians market as well as program management of the diabetes service line. Amy earned her MBA and bachelor’s degree from Southwest Baptist University.
20. Cheryl Jorgenson, PDX
Cheryl Jorgenson is the Chief Clinical Officer at PDX, a leading provider of pharmacy management software and services serving over 10,000 pharmacies in the US. Previously, she was the Vice President of Clinical Services and Director of Prior Authorization Programs. Cheryl has over 25 years in the Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) services industry. Prior to PDX, she was a joint owner of a specialty pharmacy that served patients with bleeding disorders. Before that, she was a Director of Prior Authorization and Account Management at Medco, Vice President of Pharmacy Operations at Patient Care, Vice President of Pharmacy Operations at ValueRx (Value Health) and a Nuclear Pharmacist at Syncor. Cheryl earned a master’s in Healthcare Informatics from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Central Florida. She obtained her doctorate of pharmacy from Mercer University.
21. Amy Cassata, Swift Medical
Amy Cassata is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Swift Medical, the Toronto-based company and world leader in digital wound care management. Since joining the company in 2015, Cassata works closely with the product and marketing team to ensure its software makes sense to the healthcare providers and nurses from a clinical standpoint. Utilizing her 14 years of experience as a post-acute care nurse in Chicago, Cassata is able to offer clinical knowledge and insight to everyone from data scientists and DevOps engineers to marketers. Her expertise includes overseeing departmental budgets, clinical operations, staffing resources, and major electronic health records (EHRs) configurations in a wide range of health care facilities and projects. Cassata recognizes the potential barriers to the adoption of digital solutions and works to ensure that administrators and providers are fully satisfied with clinical workflows and training. Previously, she was a Registered Nurse and Director of Clinical Operations at the Great Lakes Healthcare Group, Administrative Director of Nursing Services at HCR ManorCare, and began her career as a Licensed Practical Nurse at Schwab Rehab Hospital.
22. Kelly Bliss, Teladoc
Kelly Bliss is the Chief Client Officer at Teladoc Health, a telemedicine company that uses telephone and videoconferencing technology to provide on-demand remote medical care via mobile devices, the internet, video and phone. Kelly is responsible for the global client services strategies that drive client retention, fosters advocacy, and grows partner relationships. Previously, Kelly was the Chief of Staff at Best Doctors (acquired by Teladoc in 2017), where she was responsible for driving enterprise alignment for the global leadership team on key strategic initiatives. Prior to Best Doctors, Kelly was the Global Director of Human Resources at InterSystems. She began her career at Lab Corp. Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Psychology from Nichols College.
23. Barbara Dumery, Imprivata
Barbara Dumery is the Senior Vice President, Product Management at Imprivata. She has more than 19 years of experience. Upon joining the Company, Barbara successfully led product management for Imprivata OneSign and Imprivata Confirm ID. Previously, she led product management at Verscend Technologies, a healthcare analytics and population health management company. Prior to Verscend, she worked at Nuance for seven years, where she headed up product management for the Health Information Management solution suite and was the line of business lead for the radiology business. Barbara also headed up product management at a mid-stage PACS start-up and led market development at a patient monitoring and anesthesia machine company. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering.
24. Tiphany Lopez, Aesthetic Record
Tiphany Lopez is the Chief Growth Officer at Aesthetic Record, the Columbus Ohio-based electronic medical record system, and practice management solutions provider for aesthetic providers. She joined the company in 2019 and oversees a team of technologists, sales, and engineering specialists who provide end-to-end solutions to over 1,000 practices in 15 countries more than 4,000 users. Lopez has spent the last 13 years working with Fortune 500 companies, including Walmart, Proctor & Gamble, Dillard's, and Tyson Foods to standardize their people-intensive operations from front-line associates to C-Suite executives. Previously, Lopez was the Associate Director of HCP Training & Education at Galderma Laboratories, where she led injectable training for the US Aesthetic Business through the Galderma Aesthetic Injector Network (GAIN). There, she more than doubled the program's size, creating the largest return on investment in the company's portfolio. Before this, Lopez was the Associate Director of Training for Dillard's, where she led the organizational and talent development initiatives for 256 retail department stores across the US. As a Client Solutions Director at SVI, she launched LearnerMobileTM to the world's largest beauty, cosmetic, and consumer-packaged-goods companies.
25. Michelle O’Connor, MEDITECH
Michelle O’Connor is President and COO at MEDITECH, a software and service company focused on information systems for healthcare organizations. In her role, Michelle ensures the Company’s Electronic Health Record meets today’s evolving industry and regulatory standards, while providing the optimal user experience for customers. She has been with MEDITECH for over 30 years. Previously, Michelle served as Executive Vice President and before that, Vice President of Product Development. In 2017, Michelle traveled to South Africa to meet with hospital and government leaders throughout the region to see how they were adapting to MEDITECH systems. Michelle commented, “Working together with local communities and governments, we’re seeking out ways to improve people’s health no matter where they live.” She earned a bachelor’s degree in Math and Computer Science from Bridgewater State College.
